Pennsylvania Water Science Center

This issue of our Pennsylvania Water Science Center Newsletter highlights USGS data on the occurrence of PFAS contaminants in surface waters across the Commonwealth, a first-of-its-kind survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. USGS identified likely causes for changing low-flow statistics for streams in the Delaware River Basin, and there's more.

USGS scientists presented recent research results and updated stakeholders on USGS groundwater activities at the 2021 Pennsylvania Groundwater Symposium (Virtual) on May 6, 2021.

USGS scientists published a new study of low flow in streams in the Delaware River Basin. In general, the low flows measured during 1980-2018 increased along with increased precipitation, although low flows decreased in the Coastal Plain area, in the southern part of the basin, where water use and impervious surface...

A new U.S. Geological Survey study provides an updated, statewide estimate of high levels of naturally occurring arsenic and uranium in private well water across Connecticut.

USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center in cooperation with Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP) released a first-of-its-kind Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances (PFAS) dataset.

Application period CLOSED APRIL 16, 2021

The Pennsylvania Water Science Center is looking for Hydrologic Field Assistants to join our teams in New Cumberland (Harrisburg), Downingtown (Philadelphia), Pittsburgh, and Williamsport. Positions are part time and temporary for up to one year, but may be extended to 2 years. U.S. citizenship required.

On February 4, 2021, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection removed the three remaining counties under Drought Watch declarations. Hydrologic conditions for all Commonwealth counties are now in a Normal status. 

USGS Pennsylvania Water Science Center and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture have agreed on a new five-year program to continue 30 years of cooperation assessing groundwater quality in agricultural areas. 

News in this issue of Pennsylvania Waters includes a visual story about water availability and quality in the Delaware River Basin, StreamStats updates for Pennsylvania, a water-quality modeling tool for acid mine drainage treatment systems, a national water dashboard for flooding and other stream data, studies of nutrients and sediments in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and more!

USGS developed, in cooperation with the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, “user-friendly” aqueous geochemical modeling tools to simulate changes in water quality during passive and active treatment of acid mine drainage as described in a new study.

See current status 2/4/21

USGS groundwater and surface water monitoring data contributed to the August 21, 2020 drought watch declaration for 16 counties by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PaDEP). The last drought...